The Alien franchise is bigger than ever before, with multiple media based on it, including games. The movie originally hit theaters back in 1979 and shook new grounds about ideas of horror from outer space.
Director Ridley Scott, along with Swiss artist H.R.Giger, created some of the most iconic sci-fi horror designs that still haunt pop culture today. Let us take a look at a few of the best games that are based on the Alien franchise.
Alien Games Based On The Movie Franchise
Alien vs Predator (Arcade)
One of the oldest and most fun games based on the Alien franchise has to be the arcade game Alien vs Predator. Yes, it’s not an isolated Alien game; it was based on the crossover with Predator. Predator and Alien are as much a part of each other’s universe as their film counterparts.
The game was made by Capcom, who already had a foothold in the arcade scene with one of the greatest fighting games ever created. Street Fighter II was huge for Capcom, and it clearly proved their prowess in creating incredible games back in the day.
In Alien vs Predator, you can choose to play through the game with four selectable characters. This also included a completely original human character named Lt. Linn Kurosawa.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite
Shooters based on the Alien franchise are either a hit or a miss. There are a lot of good ones, but there are also an equal number of bad ones around. Thankfully, the last really good third-person shooter based on the franchise was a worthwhile one.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite was developed by Cold Iron Studios in collaboration with 20th Century Studios. The game was a direct and standalone sequel to the original trilogy of films. Players step into the shoes of Colonial Marines on board a ship in response to distress calls.
It’s probably one of the best modern co-op shooters based on the franchise that fans can play. The game boasts a good deal of enemy types, ranging from humans to xenomorph enemies.
Aliens: Dark Descent
Let’s switch things up with a genre that is not that likely to mingle with the Alien franchise. Aliens: Dark Descent is a tactical strategy game with an isometric view. This is another title that was made in collaboration with 20th Century Studios.
This game also takes place in the same timeline as the films, but almost 19 years later in the future. You follow a crew of Marines led by Sergeant Jonas Harper into a remote moon where Xenomorphs have escaped containment.
The gameplay has players commanding four units of Marine soldiers in a party to fight against Xenomorphs. There are multiple classes of characters to choose from, each having its own skill and weapons.
Aliens: Infestation
This is another one that may not be for the fans who are looking for high-fidelity graphics. But for the rest, Aliens: Infestation is one of the best 2D side-scrolling Alien games ever. The only problem is that it is stuck on the Nintendo DS handheld system.
Aliens: Infestation was developed by Way Forward, who are known for several really good 2D action games. Also, it should be noted that it is a SEGA-published game. They have worked in publishing other Alien games, including a very important one.
This game is a very good recommendation for the Metroidvania fans if you have an old DS lying around. Or if you aren’t worried about the ethical practices around emulation, with a Google search, you can hop on this game easily.
Alien: Isolation
Alen: Isolation has to be arguably the best game ever created based on the Alien franchise. This is another game that is published by SEGA, and it was developed by Creative Assembly. It is a British game developer studio.
The company was mostly known for working on SEGA’s Total War game franchise. But in 2014, they moved to new grounds with the release of Alien: Isolation. When people think about the movies and other media, horror is the first thing that comes to mind.
But Alien didn’t really have a dedicated horror game property until this title dropped. It became so popular that even the last film in the franchise is said to have taken influences from the game.
Alien: Resurrection
Alien: Resurrection may not be the best shooter that modern gamers will prefer. But it was one of the best tie-in games for the media franchise back in the day. It was a first-person shooter game made specifically for the PlayStation 1
The game was developed by Argonaut Games and published by Fox Interactive. If you are a fan of the films, then you might have guessed it already, but the game is based on the fourth film. Back in the day, licensed movie tie-in games were a thing. But rarely did all of them coincide with the release of the movie.
The same was the case with Alien: Resurrection; it got delayed and went into development hell before finally releasing in 2000. The game is worth checking out as it has a decent amount of a survival horror feel to the gameplay.
Aliens versus Predator
Not to be confused with the game, which we have already talked about on this list. Aliens versus Predator takes the multi-franchise media and turns it into a shooter. This was the first instance of many AvP shooters to come in the future.
The game was published by Fox Interactive and developed by Rebellion Developments. The latter of whom would go on to work on more Alien versus Predator projects in the future. The game is loosely based on the original Alien vs Predator title for the Atari Jaguar.
Players could choose from a human character, a predator, or an alien as their playable character. Each type of character had its own separate campaigns with set objectives and play style, which was very fun and engaging for 1999.
Aliens versus Predator 2
Aliens versus Predator got enough popularity for Fox Interactive to green-light another game. But unfortunately for Rebellion Developments, Monolith Productions would be the ones handling the development of the game this time.
But this did not hinder the franchise from gaining new heights. Monolith Productions is well known in the industry for giving the world some of the best first-person shooters ever conceived.
The gameplay was based on the same ideas of having three different types of playable characters. Each with their own playstyles and campaign missions. But the praises don’t just stop there; online multiplayer was also introduced to the game, which was big in 2001.
Alien Trilogy
If we are discussing every shooter that’s based on the Alien franchise, then we definitely have to talk about Alien Trilogy. This game was developed by Probe Entertainment and published by Acclaim Entertainment.
It was directly based on the first three films in the series. Released in 1996, it debuted Probe’s motion capture technology and earned massive praise in the gaming world. The title was released for Sega Saturn, MS-DOS, and the original PlayStation.
The game tried to recapture the atmosphere from the films in a successive game format. Players step into the shoes of Ellen Ripley and go through a sequence of game levels. Facing off against different types of enemies, such as face huggers and the Xenomorph.
Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure
The Alien franchise was a cultural phenomenon when it was released back in the day. Right-holders behind the intellectual property knew that they needed to capitalize on it as soon as possible. Hence, it gave birth to a slew of other media properties, including alien comic books.
This leads us to Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure, which, as you might be wondering, is a point-and-click adventure game. It was developed by Cryo Interactive Entertainment for MS-DOS.
As most stories in Alien media go, our plot has us following Lt. Col. Henry Hericksen. Who is the commander in charge of USS Sheridan and has to respond to a distress signal from an unknown outpost? The rest, you can already guess, is a wild ride.
